


Southern Jungles

by Blueyay



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Humanstuck, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-01
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2018-02-23 11:53:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 21,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2546537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blueyay/pseuds/Blueyay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Work-In-Progress<br/>Eridan Ampora world renown anthropologist, brings his cousin Karkat Vantas along with him to an adventure in the mysterious Southern Jungles. Due to the Southern Jungle's Tribe superstitions Karkat has to hide the fact that he is albino. What happens when a high ranking member of the tribe discovers his secret?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Anthropology

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Fanfiction.net under the same name.

His name is Eridan Ampora, and fuck he almost got his cousin killed. He knew it was dangerous to bring him along, considering the tribes beliefs.

Eridan Ampora world famous anthropologist, annoying hipster, and loving cousin. He decided to bring his cousin as an assistant on his next expedition. He didn’t need to tell him twice to bring spare colored contacts and to dye his hair extra dark.

Karkat Vantas is albino and the tribe Eridan is going to visit has superstitions about albinos. They believed that an albino was a spirit trapped in a human body for one of three reasons.

1\. They were trying to trick humans into doing something that could doom the tribe.

2\. Another spirit trapped them to get revenge.

3\. The spirit fell in love with a human soul and is now constantly being reborn as a human to be with them.

The only way to free a spirit from the physical realm was to burn the body it was trapped in. It’s a very scary ritual when he thinks of all those painted faces bathed in blood, dancing around a flaming corpse. Eridan plans on keeping Karkat in the background, far away from the tribe. They called themselves the high bloods even though a handful of the tribe is actually considered a high blood the rest are either mid-bloods or low bloods. They reside deep within the mysterious southern jungles. They have a lot of rituals and ceremonies that frighten most people away.

“Are you sure about this Karkat?” Eridan asked as they walked through the airport. “This is your last chance to back out, and I really don’t want to see you get hurt.” “I’ll be fine, besides what else am I going to do? There’s no one at home who won’t hurt me.” Karkat replied. A wave of guilt makes Eridan’s stomach turn but he doesn’t let it show. It’s his fault Karkat’s parents disowned him. He was the one who told his parents about his sexuality, he was the one who believed they would never hate Karkat and now look at what happened.

Now he can’t say no to his favorite cousin. They both clear airport security and board the plane. Eridan’s plan was to meet up with Feferi and Sollux in the city closest to the southern jungles. From there they will have a guide lead them to the high bloods. Eridan can’t bring more than four people with him otherwise the tribe will feel threaten and attack.

On the plane Eridan explained to Karkat everyone’s job. Feferi will be their Medical doctor and botanical expert, she will be studying the rare and exotic sopor plant that the high bloods used in their ceremonies as well as any other plants that have yet to be discovered in the Southern Jungles. Sollux will be their computer expert in charge of all the technical equipment and working the camera. Karat will be a general assistant, helping out where ever he can, mostly holding the camera for Sollux. Other than that Karkat is to remain at the campsite at all times unless noted otherwise.

After the twelve hour flight and the four hour journey into the southern jungles Eridan and his team met up with a tribe member. She appeared to be a small teenage girl. She had a cleft in the middle of her lip, her face was painted with olive green whiskers, and she wore horns on her head that were shaped to look like cat ears. The language of the high bloods is mostly sign language and silly faces very rarely do they use words as far as outsiders know. The tribal girl, Nepeta as she introduced herself, showed them where to set up camp and informed them of the direction of the tribe’s main village before leaving.

It took them two hours to set up camp. They were all tired and decided to rest for a while. Eridan sat down to read a book, Sollux pulled out an old Pokémon game, Feferi decided to brush her hair, and Karkat chose to take a nap. He handed Eridan his spare contacts just in case. It was a while before Nepeta returned.

“Karkat.” Eridan called out as he entered Karkat’s tent. “Hmmm…. what?” he replied looking up. “Put your contacts back in right now! Someone from the tribe is here!” Eridan shouted as soon as he saw Karkat’s blood red eyes. “Alright, I’m on it.” Karkat groaned rubbing sleep from his eyes. “You are going to stay here and keep an eye on everything while Fef, Sol, and I go and introduce ourselves to the tribe.” Eridan said. “Got it.” Karkat responded with a yawn. Eridan left the tent and headed out with the rest of his team.


	2. Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuff happens

You are now Karkat Vantas

After Eridan and his team left, you came out of your tent with your colored contacts on and stretched. After eating a snack to wake you up, you started to clean and straighten things up around the camp, mostly just to keep yourself busy. It took you fifteen minutes to realize that you were not alone. There were two people from the tribe just outside of the campsite. The taller one looked to be about your age, his face was painted in a way that reminded you of clowns. Upon his head were a pair of large goat horns. The shorter, had bull horns and looked a few years younger than his companion. His face had orange lines painted on his face to resemble that of an ox. They were just standing there looking at you, it was a bit unnerving. You guessed that they probably from the tribe that Eridan is visiting at the moment. You ignore them and went back to organizing things around the camp. You didn’t notice when the taller one moved. You jumped when he suddenly grabbed your shoulder, making you drop the box you were holding. You turn around quickly to hit him, but he catches your arm. He made a face and stuck his tongue out at you. You recall Eridan having explained that when you don’t understand something just keep a straight face. He lets go of your arm and starts to tickle your sides. You have to bite your lip to keep from smiling. Your face began to turn red as it heated up. It felt like you were choking on the withheld laughter. The one with bull horns snuck up on you from behind and started tickling you in different places until he found a spot that made squirm. You try to take a deep breath but end up laughing your ass off. They keep on tickling you until you collapsed on the ground gasping for breath.

You were now laying on the ground trying to remember how to breathe. One of them put a handful of leafs in your face. It made you drowsy and soon you started to drift off into slumber.

            Your name is Eridan and you finally got used to the natives way of communicating. It was mostly sign language, interpreting body language and exaggerated facial expressions. They do use words from time to time, but usually to name people and describe abstract concepts.  You told them about Karkat back at the campsite and that you would introduce him later. When they inquired who else was with him, and you responded with “I left him there alone.” they began to show signs of distress.

Apparently you should never leave anyone alone in the jungle, for fear of wild animals, but that wasn’t their main concern. You should also never be alone during the festival of third harvest, where every child that became an adult in the past year celebrate by pulling pranks in pairs and groups. At first you thought that they were worrying over nothing, until they described one of the most successful pranks last year that caused two concussions, seven broken bones, and **almost** killing one of the Grand Elders. Of course Vriska, the one responsible for said prank, was punished severely along with her accomplice; but that didn’t stop the others from going a little wild.

Oh shit.

Karkat doesn’t know their language. You and Sollux head back to camp leaving Feferi behind to study plants.

Be the mute medicine man.

You are now the mute medicine man, and your name is Kurloz. You hope to the messiahs that your brother and his friend didn’t actually go through with their plan. You left the female outsider with some sopor leaves to study. You explained to her earlier what they were for. When the leaves are freshly picked they can make a body sleep through a storm. But if you mashed and boiled the leaves for an hour it becomes a bright green slime that helps you see spirits. Last time you had slime everyone looked like they were made of colorful flowers and some of them were flying. You decided to check your father’s hive, before looking for your brother. You never understood why your father kept skulls on the roof of his hive, but you thought it looked pretty neat.

You hear shuffling and giggling from inside. Upon entering your father’s hive you find your brother and his friend on the floor with an outsider between them. He was sitting on Tavros’ lap while Gamzee was trying to figure out how the outsider’s confounding clothes work. This prank has already gone too far. You sneak up on them and knock their heads together. They fell down backwards, losing consciousness. You picked up the outsider and notice his eyes were unfocused and dilated. They must have given him slime, those blasphemes motherfuckers. You use two fingers to open his mouth and lick into his mouth to taste for slime. Fuck the kid is practically choking on the stuff. You take the outsider back to your hive where Feferi is still studying the sopor plant you gave her. She was surprised to see him all dizzy. You tried to explain what went down between your brother and the outsider, but she didn’t pick up on the sign language too well.

= > Feferi Radio Eridan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's more but I'll update on fanfic before I update on here.


	3. On Cloud 9

Be worried Relative.

Eridan arrived back at camp with Sollux, the camp looked normal, everything was in place, except Karkat was nowhere to be seen. After half an hour of frantic searching, Feferi radios them.

Feferi: “Eridan I need you to grab my medical equipment and come back to camp. Kurloz found Karkat.”

Eridan: “Holy shit, what happened?”

Feferi: “I don’t know, I need you to get here and translate. And don’t forget my medical equipment!”

Eridan: “Can you at least tell me what’s wrong?”

Feferi: “I think one of the natives gave him something, I need to pump his stomach now.”

Eridan: “Okay we’re on our way.”

Eridan quickly found Feferi’s medical equipment. After splitting the load with Sollux they rush back to the tribe as quickly as they can. As Eridan entered Kurloz’s hive he tripped sending the supplies scattering across the floor. Sollux being close behind Eridan fell on top of him, clutching the supplies he was carrying to his chest. Feferi had no time for their collective clumsiness. She quickly grabbed what she needed and began to treat Karkat.

Be the high as fuck outsider twenty minutes ago.

You are now Karkat and you have no idea what the fuck is going on. You feel like you should be angry because some guy is trying to take your pants off, but he looks friendly. You giggle at yet another failed attempt from the stranger, seriously who doesn’t know how pants work. You would do it yourself, but you don’t feel like it. It is way too comfy sitting in the other guy’s lap. Everything is warm and cozy and you could just float like this forever.

After some time of watching the smiling stranger’s hair dance, a third stranger lifts you up. Oh, the other guys are taking a nap.

You don’t know where you’re going but you already miss the weird clown thingy. Heh, the other guy looked like a moo beast, wait, I mean cows. Coooowwwss. Weird as hell word. Oh look Feferi is here, when did she have pink eyes. Fuchsia, that’s what it’s called. Feferi, Fuchsia, Fusieferi. Fefehsia. I really want some berries now. Hey Feferi has one of those thingies for doing something. Fuck. You end up vomiting uncontrollably.

Be the troublemaker.

You are now Gamzee and fuck do you have one hell of a headache. You try to stand, but dizziness overcomes you and you fall back down. Luckily you and your friend weren’t out too long. Looks like your brother found out about your prank. All you wanted to do was switch clothes between the outsider and Tavros, it would’ve been so funny. Of course you wouldn’t abandon the outsider, you were going to keep him in your own hive until third harvest was over, then return him in his own clothes.

You and Tavros get out of there before your dad returns.

Hiding does neither of you any good. Your brother finds you in your usual hiding spot. Apparently Tavros was hiding at Nepeta’s, you didn’t know they got along.

Your brother drags the both of you before your father, who is angrier than jaguar that had its tail stepped on.

After about an hour of interrogating and scolding, you admit that you came up with the idea yourself. Tavros was dismissed. Your father gave you a look and left the room. You got up and followed him. You both arrive at Kurloz’s hive were you see three other outsiders surrounding the one you were messing with earlier. Your father gives you a disapproving glare and shoves you forward. He wants you to apologize before telling you what your punishment is. You take a deep breath before approaching the group.

Be the “fuck my life” guy.

You are now Karkat Vantas and fuck everything that ever came into being. Life decided to hit you with its pissed stained baseball bat upside the head. God fucking dammit your head feels like it was drop of a cliff then chewed on by a pack of ravenous wolves. There is enough light to burn your eyes into bloody boiling crisps.

“Karkat, can you hear me?” Feferi whispers, but to you it sounds like shouting.

“What!” you yell at her. Big mistake. You just made your own ears feel like they were stabbed with scissors. You hiss biting your tongue, so you don’t cry. You squeeze your eyes shut and take deep breaths. You feel something cold pressed to your forehead and it relieves most of the pain.

After an hour and several canteens of water your pain has been reduce to a dull throbbing in the back of your head. Eridan, Feferi, and Sollux were right by you in case you needed something. Looking around your surroundings you notice you’re not at camp, and two natives were outside the circle of your friends. One of them is shoved forward by the elder. Eridan notices and begins communication with them.

From your point of view it reminds you of the time you accidently broke your neighbor’s window and your dad made you apologize. You then had to run errands for them to pay for a new window. Eridan turns back to you.

“Karkat how are you feeling?” he asks. You grunt in reply.

“Well guess what, as punishment Gamzee is to assist you as you recover.” he tells you. “Fuck. No.” you respond. You try to get up and leave but your legs give out beneath you. Now that you think about it you can’t really feel your legs at all. Before you can freak out Feferi reassures you that it’s temporary. “Karkat before you say no again think of it as a learning experience for the anthropologic community.” Eridan tries to persuade you. “Fucking fine, but he better not try anything weird.” you spit out your reply.

Be the guy carrying Karkat.

You are now Gamzee, and you learned that the short outsider you are carrying is named Karkat. Your brother told you that you gave him way too much slime almost enough to kill him. Luckily the female outsider, wait she was called Feferi, was able to get the slime out of Karkat. You can’t remember the other two outsiders name but as long as you are taking care of Karkat it doesn’t really matter.

Be the guy with personal problems.

You are now Eridan and damn it, you should be focus on research and studying a foreign culture not checking out the hot doctor. You can’t help but notice how her hair swishes like waves hitting a beach, on the way back to camp. Your glad Gamzee is carrying Karkat, ‘cause you’re pretty sure neither you or Sollux alone would’ve been able to carry him. Not to mention the medical supplies and equipment you guys are carrying back with you.

It also gives you a chance to lag back and watch Feferi walk ahead of you. You have developed quite a crush on her. It hurts. You’ve seen the way she looks at Sollux and you don’t blame her. He’s taller than you by a good five inches and for a computer nerd he has a pretty well-built body. Not to mention his eyes are two different colors. His left eye is a rich chocolate while his right eye is a piercing blue. Wait, what. That’s it you are taking a long cold shower when you get the chance. You know there are several waterfalls in the jungles and only two of them are hard to find.


	4. Good Morning

Be the man.

You are now Sollux and even though you’re aware you’re dreaming, you’re not waking up. This is most definitely the weirdest dream you’ve ever had. First off you are shirtless.

Secondly, Feferi, who you have known for years, was in front of you leaning forward and kissing you. Behind you was Eridan, he had his arms around your waist and was nibbling your ear. You were getting warm all over especially after one of them decided to slip their hand down your pants and the other grabbed your ass.

Just as you were about to return both favors, a loud scream wakes you up.

Be the Screaming Guy.

You’re not really screaming your just saying obscenities in a really high volume. Damn it you should not have fallen asleep on the way to camp. You didn’t know what you were expecting, but it was not this. The weird guy from yesterday was right next to you with his arms around your waist. You appreciate that he carried you back to camp safely but sharing a sleeping bag with someone made you uncomfortable. You kick your way out his grip, goddamn this fucker can sleep through shit storm of screaming harpies. Getting up you knock over a stack of boxes you were using as a night stand. Shit there goes your books scattered across the floor and Gamzee for some god forsaken reason is still asleep. You try to stand but your legs kept shaking and giving out. You give yourself a few minutes to stretch and carefully stand up. Your legs are feeling better for the most part, you just have to do things slowly.

Fuck you left your contacts in and now your eyes are irritated. You are such a brain dead idiot. Well you can’t take them out with this guy here. You carefully hobble to Eridan’s tent to get your second pair.

When you walk into his tent you are greeted with the sight of a sleeping Eridan making out with his pillow. Instead of having an aneurysm from over exposure to disturbing events, you decide that this morning isn’t real. You are just having a really horrible dream that your subconscious felt justified in giving to a horrible person. You find your second pair of colored contacts and switch them out. You leave the pair you slept in on Eridan’s makeshift night stand; after cleaning them.

Be the nerd with sweet dreams.

You are now Eridan and life is great. You finally got to confess your feelings to Feferi and she returned them! Just as things were getting good you were abruptly pulled from your dreams. Someone just assaulted your face with a book. You fumble around untangling yourself from your blanket and grope you makeshift nightstand for your glasses. Someone places your glasses on your face. You look up and see Sollux. “Did you have to hit me in the face?” you ask glaring at him.

Be Sollux

You are now Sollux and you just woke Eridan up by hitting him in the face with a book. You were mad that he called out Feferi’s name in his sleep.

While he was making out with his pillow.

Now you know why Karkat didn’t stick around in here. Wait, why would you be mad that he’s dreaming about Feferi? Whatever. You grab his glasses and shove them on his face. You think he asked you a question. You weren’t listening, so you reply with “Shut up, breakfast is ready.”

You head back to the breakfast table because you are hungry damn it!

“Sollux do you want some waffles?” Feferi asks you. “Aww yeah, waffles for breakfast.” Shit you didn’t mean to say that out loud. Feferi giggles and says “Well, you look nice today.” “Thanks.” you reply. Out of the corner of your eye you notice Karkat messing with some of the boxes.

Wake up Gamzee.

You are now Gamzee and man you are tired. First you had to carry Karkat back to his camp then you had to wrangle him into his “sleeping bag” as the adults called it. That thing was motherfucking hard to figure out. You ended up getting both Karkat and yourself into the damn thing. At that point you were too tired and just fell asleep on him. You woke up five minutes ago and Karkat was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he’s getting his munch on. You walk out of Karkat’s tent and see the lady making breakfast. The guy with mismatched eyes is fussing over Karkat, who is messing with stuff. You have no idea what it is, so you sit down at the table.

Eventually the guy, who can actually communicate with you, comes out of his tent and sees Karkat arguing with mismatch eyes. He breaks them up and drags Karkat over to you. He asks you to keep an eye on Karkat and make sure he eats his breakfast.

You pull the little motherfucker into your lap and try hand feeding him some of the food the nice lady made. Karkat ends up biting your finger.

Be the nice Lady making breakfast.

You are now Feferi and you woke up this morning very excited. Everyone had agreed that they would take turns with the chores and today you got cooking duty. You finally had the chance to show off your waffle making skills. Being a longtime friend of Sollux you already know all of his favorite foods. You know you shouldn’t flirt with colleagues on a professional expedition, but you’re sure if worse comes to worse everyone will handle things maturely. Everyone **is** an adult, well Karkat is a young adult. You heard some screaming as you were collecting ingredients then watched Karkat leave his tent and head to Eridan’s. After starting on the waffles Karkat comes out of Eridan’s tent as Sollux goes in to wake him up. Sollux comes back out and you offer him some waffles. Then Karkat starts messing with some equipment and Sollux leaves to stop him. Darn it. Eventually Gamzee comes to the table and sits down, he probably wouldn’t understand what’s going on. You start making something other than waffles like bacon and hash browns. Finally Eridan comes out of his tent and breaks up the fight between Sollux and Karkat. You watch as Eridan drags Karkat over to Gamzee, you’re not sure what the hand gestures mean, but you think Eridan wants Gamzee to keep Karkat out of trouble. You set the rest of the food down on the table and fix a plate for yourself. You watch Gamzee try to hand feed Karkat. Oh, that is the cutest thing you have ever seen, until Karkat bites his finger.


	5. Don't get caught.

Karkat for the most part argued with Eridan about spending time with Gamzee. Eridan pointed out that they will be documenting tribal daily life and if he can’t learn to communicate with them he’ll send him back home. Of course he meant his home with the Ampora family, he would never send Karkat back to his horrible parents that would’ve been cruel and inhumane.

He damn near fainted when Karkat showed up at his house bloody and bruised. When Karkat told Eridan that he was gay, Eridan had assumed that his parents already knew. He didn’t know they were so violently against it. After that incident Eridan patched him up, gave him a place to stay and never asked Karkat for anything.

“Okay, how about the fact that he can’t watch me dye my hair.” Karkat points at his slightly faded hair. Eridan bites his knuckle and starts pacing back and forth. Shit, how were they going to get away with that? He took a step away from Karkat before turning back. “Okay, what if we got you a basin of water and you dyed your hair in your tent while we distract Gamzee out here?” “Fine, just have Sollux guard the entrance and maybe the pan rotting idiot won’t catch on.” Karkat exhaled deeply. He walked over to his supplies while Eridan ran out to get a basin.

After Karkat dyed his hair, the team packed the equipment they needed and headed off to the tribe under the hot sun. The first thing they documented was the end of third harvest, where all the new adults that were caught pulling pranks were lined up for judgment in a small opening in the jungle. There was no grass growing, just a muddy ground circle with a fire pit in the center.

The Grand High Blood starts by walking up to the lowest ranking tribe member. Trailing behind him is one of the Grand Elders that recorded their mischief. The Grand Elder moved his hands in two circular motions before clapping them twice as a way to tell the Grand High Blood the offenses the prankster was guilty of. The Grand High blood then slapped the young adult upside the head and sent them on their way. The next one got a broken wrist. As the Chief and Elder went down the line the punishments got progressively harsher. The last one in line was a male about eighteen years of age. He wore blue paint that went from the sides of his nose out wards to look like a giant moth. According to Eridan, this prankster in particular had destroyed someone’s hive and refused to help rebuild it. The chief grabs one of the prankster’s hands and began breaking his fingers one by one. He then pulled out a small knife made of bone and proceeded to cut four lines along each arm. The chief took a couple steps back and promptly kicked the sweaty young adult in the teeth. The poor guy fell backwards as his tooth nearly hit Karkat in the eye. Because of that, Gamzee decided to move Karkat to the other side of the opening. Karkat didn’t protest much, seeing as he was being taken into a shady area. It also gave Sollux a chance to angle the camera just right to capture the Grand High Blood looming over the prankster.

The prankster eventually came to his senses and struggled to get back up again. Every time he put pressure on his hands he winced in pain and fell back down. After several tries he found a way to stand up without the use of his hands. The Chief still towered over him and made several hand gestures that caused the prankster to go wide eyed. His shoulders slumped as he looked to the ground and ran off. Eridan wasn’t able to immediately translate it. “Something about not participating in an upcoming event.” he said. Eridan approached the Grand Elder, who has experience with outsiders to help clarify the situation. The Grand Elder explained that after the third harvest they begin winter preparations with a fishing trip, which was also a way for younger tribe members to prove they are an adult.

It turned into an hour long conversation about how tribe members become an adult. First they prove they can feed themselves and others by being able to fish, hunt or find food in the jungle. This usually occurs during winter preparations, when everyone is drying food for the winter and need to work twice as much. 

Then they start making their own clothes. It doesn’t get too cold during the winter but it rains almost nonstop and one either gets a water impervious covering from their parents or makes one themselves. A water impervious covering is like a cloak that drapes from their head, wraps around their shoulders and cascades down to their knees. It’s made with thick leaves on top to keep the rain off and fur underneath for warmth. The rain comes down so hard it’s surprising if anything grows. It’s also why their hives are built on stilted platforms.

Finally they build their own hive. A hive is most commonly built with a hexagonal shape although some prefer a circular shape. Some kids really like to challenge their skills and make a hive with a draping roof giving it the appearance of a large tent. In a typical hive they would have four rooms divided by curtains. There is the slumber block, the edible material depository block, the ablution block that is only used during winter and the visitor reception block which is the first room one enters, since it’s literally part of the entrance.

It was right around this part of the conversation between Eridan and the Grand Elder where the chief goes back to the hive cluster and Karkat falls asleep in the shade against Gamzee’s side.

The Grand Elder continues to explain that these goals could be completed in any order, as long as two others witnessed it. When someone becomes an adult they can paint their face. He also added that when lovers get hand fasted, they take their hives apart and merge them together.

Before Eridan could ask about the face paint Sollux started complaining “Oh my god Eridan can we at least get back to their village first, it is way too hot out here.” Eridan replied. “Okay fine but only because I don’t want Karkat to get burned to a crisp. Where is he anyway?” “He’s in the shade with Gamzee, so I don’t think he’s going to burn anytime soon.” Feferi pointed out. “Well, we should be getting back soon to fix our tents if they’re right about winter being a cold rainy season.” Eridan finished picking up his things and heading back to camp. Feferi and Sollux followed suit.

Be the pillow.

You are now Gamzee and it looks like the outsiders are going back to their camp if the direction they’re going is any indication. You think you should probably wake up the little motherfucker so the both you could follow them, but…

He’s just so motherfucking adorable asleep.

You would hate to get him riled up in a grouchy mood, besides you can carry him easy. Karkat was as light as a feather. It would be nice to have him all to yourself for a while, maybe teach how to sign proper.

Yeah you think you’ll do just that.


	6. Get Schoolfed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Learn more about the Tribe of highbloods

You are now Eridan and god damn it you cannot keep track of Karkat for the life of you. You stopped by the village when Sollux suggested to see if that one person rebuilt their hive yet, when you noticed that Karkat wasn’t with the group. Your team backtracked to the clearing, but Gamzee and Karkat were already gone.

At first you panicked because the last time Karkat was alone he almost overdosed on sopor, then Sollux reminded you that only happened because it was third harvest. Feferi suggested to film the tribe member building their hive first, since it was highly unlikely Gamzee was going to hurt Karkat after The Grand High Blood’s warning.

You can only hope that Feferi is right about Gamzee. You and your team decided to film a hive being built. It was a lower caste member by the name of Damara. Her face had maroon swirls that resembled smoke painted on her face. She was raising her little sister, Aradia, by herself. They both wore ram’s horns on their heads. Damara’s horns being more precarious with her hair tied up.

With Aradia sitting under the trees playing with dead animals stuffed with dried leafs, Damara began construction on the stilted platform. Tying together long branches and stumps, she made what looked like a circular table with two holes in it. On the ground she created a small pit surrounded with stacked stones like a shallow well. She aligned one of the holes with the pit and started tethering it to the ground.

After that she constructed the walls and roof with more branches and giant leafs. Luckily for the crew she allowed them to watch her hang curtains off the beams and furnish her home.

In the slumber block she created two separate piles for Aradia and herself out of fur and hand woven blankets. In the edible material depository block she created shelves to store her food.

For the ablution block she had to go back outside and dig a sloping trench leading from the hive to the forest. She lined the trench with hallowed out logs, before going back inside with a bowl of water and dumping it out the open hole. Sollux and Feferi watched as the water ran through the logs and into the trees.

The stone walled pit she created was aligned with the visitor reception block, where Damara began a fire and started making food. She made a few hand gestures to Eridan and he in turn told the crew that was their cue to leave.

You are now Gamzee and you are wondering if Karkat is an adult or not. You know that most outsiders don’t paint their faces, but you have no idea how to tell their young adults apart from teenagers. He could be an adult, the motherfucker sure carries himself like one. But he could still be a kid and you could get into a lot of trouble for messing with him.

You kind of hope he’s a kid, then maybe you could adopt him if the other outsiders allow it. But if he’s an adult he would have to actually want stay here and choose to become part of the tribe to… well you’re not entirely sure why you want him to stay so badly, maybe-

Your train of thought stops as Karkat stirs in his sleep. You carried him all the way back to your hive and are currently sitting in a large pile of furs and soft fabrics in your slumber block. You want to be able to prove that you can provide for a family should you ever decide to have one.

You never quite developed flushed feelings for anyone in the village and being a single parent is difficult if your father is anything to go by. Maybe you could practice parenting with Karkat once you figure out if he’s an adult or not. You can definitely teach him how to sign when he wakes up. 

 

Be the lost and confused one.

You are now Karkat and you have no idea where the hell you are. You remember falling asleep outside in the shade, not inside some kind of house made of sticks and leaves. It takes you a moment to realize that you were sleeping in a pile of furs next to the guy who kidnapped you when you first got here. Seriously, what the fuck was this deranged clown’s problem with whisking you away to random ass places.

Speaking of which, you don’t have Eridan around and you don’t have a single idea as to how to communicate with anyone in this tribe especially the damn clown staring at you. You briefly remember Eridan moving his hands in a fanciful way to greet someone, and entertain the idea of repeating those motions, but there was another gesture after the first one that you just can’t remember for the life of you.

God damn useless dick breath of an idiot was moving his hands around while you were spacing out. He repeats the motion. “Fucking hell, what?” your natural response to frustrating situations. He pokes your nose, then repeats the hand gesture. You slowly raise your hands, unsure of what exactly he wants you to do. He repeats the gesture once more, before grabbing your hands and moving them.

You had no idea what he was doing at first, but after a while you figured out he was saying something a lot like “good morning” or “good afternoon”.

You spend the next couple of hours learning sign language. Thank god that names are spoken most of the time. So far what you had learn was how to sign “Hello” in three different ways and that apparently the reason they use sign language was because there were large predators in the Jungle that had sensitive hearing. Of course, their hearing would be dulled during the rainy season because of how hard it rains. You also figured out that Gamzee swears a lot out of habit, not as colorfully as you and most certainly not in long winded rants about shit that shouldn’t happen because people keep their heads up their asses all day.

Your little lesson ends when you hear your stomach start complaining about the lack of food consumed in the past few hours.


	7. Floundering Morons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People and their feelings.

Hours into the future but not many Gamzee and Karkat finally reunite with Eridan, Feferi and Sollux back at their campsite. The team began to take down their tents to set them up properly for the rainy season. Because of the fairly simple structure of the tents everyone was able to take care of their own private tents, before working together on the larger tents used for storage.   
Be the guy sitting on sidelines watching.  
You are now Gamzee and you think Karkat is probably an adult or close to being one, you’re going to have to keep a close eye on him to see if he can do any of the other things adults are supposed to do. You are kind of disappointed and slightly relieved at the same time. On one hand you don’t have an excuse to practice being a parent with him, but on the other hand he could choose to stay here if he wanted to. You briefly entertain some noise in your think pan on how you could convince a motherfucker that the village is the best place for him to be.   
Well, they are here to learn about what ways of life is here. Maybe you could just, keep on real close during the first fishing season, show him the ups and downs. You could find out how grown up he is. And maybe he might be open to the idea of sticking around.  
Be the idiot floundering with his feelings.  
You are now Eridan and you have no idea how you feel. On one hand Feferi is literally the sweetest person you have ever met and you’re pretty sure she could pass for an angel, but on the other hand Sollux gets you riled up pretty easily, at least in your head that’s what it looks like. You can’t stop staring at the both of them, even when you should be focusing on making sure these damn tents don’t fall apart. Karkat jabs his elbow into your ribs. “Ow, what the fuck was that for!” you shout at him. “You almost hit me in the eye while you were absentmindedly scratching at your balls, you dumb piece of elephant shit!” he shouts back at you. “I wasn’t scratching anything, fuck off.” you reply. The next thing you know someone swats your behind while you were distracted. You whip around and see Sollux and Feferi giggling with each other. “Okay, which one of you did it?”  
Be the bubbly woman.  
You are now Feferi and you can’t help yourself. You and Sollux decided to mess with Eridan a little bit. He always so… glubbing difficult. You wish he would loosen up more, you reel-ly want him to get along with Sollux. You know that Sollux can be as immature as Eridan is pretentious at times, but he’s reel-ly smart and likes to have fun once in a while. Sometimes you wish you could combine them together to make the perfect man, but you have a feeling that something would go wrong, horri-bubbly wrong. Like their conflicting personalities could make a being with so much self-loathing and contempt it would put Karkat’s wrath to shame. Hopefully you’ll figure some-fin out.  
Be the man with a plan.  
You are now Sollux and putting up these tents are easy, so easy you were able to plot with Feferi and get away with swatting Eridan in the rear end. His face is priceless. It’s honestly a nice break from all the camera work and listening to Eridan monologue about everything. You have a pretty good feeling that you could convince Eridan and Feferi to some kind of three-way relationship, Mituna said they were called polyamorous or something like that. You kind of like the idea of having two people a little more than you should. Maybe your obsession with twos is coming back, you’d really hate to go to therapy about “OCD” again.

After everyone finished with rebuilding the tents, the team went back to the tribe’s village to interview the Elders about their face paint. What they explained was that after you were initiated as an adult you were free to paint your face in anyway relative to yourself. For example: The Serket bloodline was believed to be descended from spiders who were known for their unbeatable weaving skills. They could weave silk, stories, lies and sometimes dreams. The eldest Serket was known for painting her face to look like she has eight eyes and long fangs. They called her Mindfang, she is one of the best hunters in the tribe. The second eldest, Aranea, was very intelligent and very good at getting people to do what she wanted even if they weren’t aware of it. She painted her face with the symbol for clear skies inverted. Most of the tribe see it as a warning not to cross her as she probably knows all your secrets. The youngest of the Serkets, Vriska became an adult two years ago and almost killed an elder, so far she likes to go back and forth from painting a spider on her face to painting stars caught in a spider web. A lot of people in the tribe change up their face paint every now and then, because no one is really the same for long.  
Interviews like these went on for a good three days, as everyone felt like sharing why they paint their face and how they make their paint out of a large variety of plants and sometimes clay. And of course it was during these interviews that Karkat realized something.  
Be the adorabloodthirsty interrogator.   
You are now Karkat and you just realized that Gamzee doesn’t have to follow you around anymore. You decided that you would use the interrogation skills Terezi taught you while she was in Law school. You kind of missed your old friend. Back in middle school you used to be picked on by some soggy lampshade of a douche, until she kicked his ass. She taught you so many things over the years like self-defense and how to talk your way out of most situations. You get Eridan to help you translate your questions, he thought you wanted to do an interview. Same thing, slightly different outcomes. The first step in any interrogation is to remain calm, and act friendly. This is incredibly difficult for you considering how quick you are to stupidly lose your temper. Deep breath, it’s not that big a deal.   
You and Eridan approach him after the interview with the Nitrams, he had hands stuck together with what looked like sticky string. That fucking moron. You and Eridan start off by asking if he needs assistance to which he replies yes. You undo his hands and wipe off the residue with a tissue. You start asking questions that have nothing to do with what you want to know, like: What does he like to do in his free time? Why does he paint his face like a clown? What kind of food does he like? And so on.   
He answers enthusiastically that he usually makes paint and come up with rhymes in his free time. His face paint is known as the happy face and he chooses that design because he likes to make people happy. There are generally three types of food in the village meat, vegetables, and sweets. His favorite would be dried meat.   
Then you slowly touch on the subject of third Harvest. Eridan gives you a questioning look, but you just shrug it off nonchalantly. If Terezi was here she would be so proud of how well you’re not exploding right now. You start with the question what kind of prank were you trying to pull off?   
He explained that he thought it would be funny if someone from the tribe was walking around wearing outsiders clothing. You were the only one left alone and Tavros was pretty close to your size.   
You decided to ask about how most punishments are received after third harvest.  
He explains that half the time people receive punishment right after they have been caught, but the other half of the time pranksters run off and hide and are usually rounded up the next day to repent. Very few pranksters actually get away with their pranks.   
You finally ask the question that’s been waiting the whole time. If his punishment was to watch over you until you were better, then why is he still following you around when you’re clearly back to full health?   
He hesitates at first, you can’t tell under the face paint, but from the way his ears are rapidly turning red, you guess that he’s blushing. He looks away for a moment before responding that he wanted to get to know you better. He thought you were pretty interesting for an outsider.  
You feel your own face blushing and you try to scowl to hide the smile that was trying to creep onto your face. You did not expect that, you weren’t sure what you were expecting. You hear Eridan snickering at you from the side and give him an elbow jab to the ribs. You needed to think about this.


	8. I sea you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fish puns and terrible planning

As the days went on, the Tribe were further along with winter preparations, soon they would go on their first fishing trip of the season.  
Be more excited than a puppy with more kibble than he knows what to do with.  
You are now Gamzee Makara and you just can’t wait for the fishing trip tomorrow. Yeah you have to wake up early, but you get to wake up Karkat early too. You can help him get ready for the trip, maybe make him a water impervious covering, but he might already have one. It shouldn’t start raining until after the fishing trip.  
You decide to rub some sopor leaves on your face you help you sleep. No sense in staying up late when you have to wake up early in the morning.  
Be the Grump who decided to stay up.  
You are now Karkat and for the first time in your life you actually regret reading one of your romance novels. You were so into the compelling story that you were up well past midnight.  
Unfortunately you were awaken quite early, too early, to be composed.  
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FUCK YOU!” you scream at the asshole who just slapped you with something cold and wet. Fuck getting up early.  
Oh god it’s that flaming piece of shit clown. You attempt to whack him in the face until you realize that you still don’t have your colored contacts in. You shove him out of your tent and as you are moving boxes to block the entrance until you realize something important.  
The sun hasn’t risen yet, it’s too dark to see your eyes.  
Be the asshole who landed on his face.  
You are now Gamzee and shit that tiny motherfucker is scary as fuck when he wakes up. You wish you could have seen his face, last time you pissed off Karkat his face turned red. He is so adorable when he’s disgruntled, but you were not expecting him to freak out like that.  
To be fair the sun isn’t even up in the sky yet.  
You woke up a few hours early and had already finished packing for the fishing trip. Not only is it going to be your first fishing trip, it’s also going to the first one with your father since he had kids. You were the last of his descendants to reach adulthood, he hasn’t been on a fishing trip for over twenty years. This gets you thinking, if you have kids too soon you would miss out on a lot of fishing trips, then again if you’re like Kurloz, who doesn’t like fishing, then it wouldn’t matter if you had kids or not.  
For now you just hang around the outsiders’ campsite.  
This is boring maybe Karkat is still awake. You go to see if Karkat is still awake, but as soon as you stick your head in your face is assaulted with something hard and heavy. It lands on the floor with a thud you look and it’s some kind of flat box with three sides. You pick it up as fast as you can and duck out of Karkat’s tent before he throws something else at you. You examine the box with three sides, as the sun is coming up and watch how the missing three sides shine a bright yellow in the light. You try opening it, pretty easy for a box that only has three sides. There’s something flat like leaves and white as bones stuck to one of the sides. You give it a sniff, it’s musty and old and you can’t really think of anything like it.  
You flip through the box leafs and notice little shapes in little rows, maybe it’s something they use to scribe on, but then how did they get the words so little. Before you could try and pull one of the box leafs out Karkat grabs it out your hands. Shit you didn’t even notice him walk up to you.  
Be that one guy with a boner.  
You are now Eridan and you just woke up from one the most intense dreams you’ve ever had. There was Feferi and Sollux and you are still confused. You get up and contemplate whether you should rub it out or just it cool off on your own.  
Well your brother always said it’s better to tired out a dog then ignore it.  
You rummage through your supplies until you find a bottle of lotion and some tissue paper. Making yourself comfy in your nest of blankets you begin to relieve yourself.  
Be the guy who is actually being productive.  
You are now Sollux and instead of goofing around or sleeping in you are prepping for this ‘fishing trip’ by water proofing all the equipment you’re bringing with you. You are sure as hell are not going to have another water park incident. Feferi kindly offered to carry some of your stuff since she only needs to bring a first aid kit, and you hesitantly accepted. It’s not that you don’t trust Feferi, you just get paranoid when someone else is holding your cameras.  
Besides better her than Karkat. You don’t think the kid is as delicate as you are with electronics. Of course you’re probably overacting and maybe bringing five cameras is too many.  
Two? No three, no two? What if you brought four small ones…?  
You continue with this until Feferi cheerfully waltzes into your tent, and you then realize you didn’t put on any pants.  
Be the cheerful early bird.  
You are now Feferi and buoy do love waking up reely early. You are just so excited, you heard that the destination of the fishing trip is by the ocean. You didn’t know how close you were to the sea. After you were finished packing you decided to kelp Sollux out with packing his equipment. Carrying all those cameras around must be a pain the bass.  
“Hey Sollux are you up yet?” you asked as you walked into his tent. You stop and turn around when notice that he’s not wearing pants. This is so orcaward. You hear shuffling behind you which you could only assume was Sollux hastily putting on a pair of pants.  
“I’m so sorry, I just wanted to sea if you need any kelp packing.” you break the awkward silence hanging in the air.  
“Oh, thanks I guess, I should probably just bring three cameras. Do you think you could carry this one?” he asked. You turn around and see him holding up one of his medium size cameras. “Shore.” you replied. He puts it a case and hands it to you. Then he packs a larger camera and a small pocket size camera in his duffle bag along with his laptop. “Are you shore you can carry all that?” you asked. “Maybe I should get Karkat.”  
“Don’t, he has breakfast duty today, besides he has that clown hanging around him and I don’t want to risk damaging any of the cameras.” he responded with a huff after lifting the heavy bag.  
“What aboat Eridan? He wouldn’t be so shellfish to let his cameraman injure himself.” you think they get along pretty whale. That and your pretty shore that Sollux would hurt himself if carried all that on his own for a long period of time. You would know sea-ing as you are a licensed general sturgeon.  
Be the guy wasting his time.  
You are now Eridan again and after you finished yourself, you packed your excessively small bag, you ran out of things to do. Luckily Feferi came in and asked if you could help Sollux. Apparently he wants to bring three cameras, it seems a bit excessive to you, but he is the expert. You and the others decide to head to the breakfast table and see if Karkat actually woke up and made breakfast. You know how much he likes to sleep in.  
Of course fortunate to your surprise Karkat was indeed up and had already made breakfast. He and Gamzee were already seated and-  
Wait. Why is Gamzee here?  
You decide not to make an issue and simply sit down for breakfast while keeping a close eye on Gamzee. About halfway through the meal you came to the conclusion that Gamzee may be infatuated with Karkat. He sat unnaturally close to Karkat invading his personal space, going against both cultures social standards of proximity. Yes it was common to sit close to others when eating but never so close that one may as well be sitting on the other. Not mention Gamzee seemed to lean most of his weight against Karkat which is considered rude in the tribe if you’re an adult.  
Of course when Gamzee caught you observing him he straighten up in his seat looking a little embarrassed. Well you have the rest of today to figure out any other social cues that may indicate romantic interest.


	9. I like you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's get going.

Be the guy who explains shit.

You are now Kurloz and for once you’re the not the last person to wake up this fine morning. It was your brother who woke you up. He believes that the short grumpy motherfucker that he almost choked with sopor, is an adult. He wants to give him one of his softer fabrics, idiot. You shake your head at him and make to smack him. Soft fabric ain’t a good gift unless it’s for a baby. You sign to him a thicker, more durable fabric would be more appropriate.

 You watched him run to his hive and grab his bag, you’re surprised that no one has woken up from his commotion. You see him get some cold water and wet his a rag. You’d hate to be the motherfucker that **he** is going to wake up. Getting slap with a wet rag is never fun.

Of course you went back to sleep, you hate fishing trips. Mostly because you have to wake up early and haul a heavy load for hours. Not to mention it always rains on the way back.

You made sure to make plans for today, like hanging out with Kitty bitch.

Be the irritated lump of grump

You are now Karkat and after your rude awakening from the dumb chucklefuck you decided to get ready for the fishing trip. You pack some water, snacks, sunblock, and you would pack your book but you think the clown has it. You leave your tent and see Gamzee fiddling with your book. You snatch it out of his hands before he could damage it.

Fuck it’s your turn to make breakfast.

Throughout the whole fucking time that piss sniffing asshole would not stop leaning on or against you. The idiot nearly caught the both of you on fire. He got even worse when everyone was sitting down for breakfast. Isn’t rude to occupy so much of someone’s personal space. You would shove him off if he wasn’t so good at shielding you from the sun. You had a pretty bad sunburn from forgetting to put on sunblock a couples days ago, and you weren’t even exposed that long.

The idiot only sits up straight when he catches Eridan observing him. For a brief moment you missed his having him against your side.

But there was no fucking way you were going to admit that.

Be the goof that is hitting on Karkat.

You are now Gamzee and you have no idea what you are doing. You plan on waiting until everyone is traveling together to give Karkat his gift. You know acting the way you are is something troubling.

You are pretty sure he is an adult seeing as he is an outsider capable of taking care of himself. You don’t think he needs to prove himself to the tribe as it was assumed that he was an adult just like the other outsiders who came with him.

What’s the worst that could happen?

While everyone was getting their munch on and you were leaning against Karkat you noticed Eridan looking at you funny. You straighten up, a little embarrassed and a little worried. You’re not sure if he’s okay with you being around Karkat; even though he kind of encouraged you and Karkat to hang out. Like you think he might have been or is Karkat’s custodian, you know they’re family, but you’re not entirely sure.

If he was Karkat’s custodian he would be the only one allowed to actively get between you and Karkat.

Oh shit, you don’t know if your Dad likes Karkat or not.

Seeing has how he was the one to raise you, he can get between you two, if he thinks Karkat isn’t good enough. That shouldn’t be a problem as long as Karkat can keep up during the fishing trip.

But he’s sensitive to sunlight ain’t he, so that means you gotta block it out for him for him to be fully functional.

 

After breakfast everyone at the outsider’s camp met up with the highbloods that were going on the fishing trip. It took a while for Gamzee to find the perfect opportunity to give Karkat his gift. He had to wait until they took a short snack break, when Karkat tore one of the legs of his pants.

Be the guy ready to throw a fit.

You are now Karkat and you regret everything you did to led up to your stupid pants catching onto a thorny vine and deciding to tear at the smallest provocation. Then Gamzee showed up and gave you a more durable, handwoven cloth that didn’t feel too bad to the touch.

Thank god for Kanaya and her sewing lessons.

You didn’t want to learn at first, but after ruining some clothing from picking fights you find the usefulness to be a blessing at the best of times. You decided to just throw away your old pair of pants seeing as how they were not fit to fight off the ridiculous flora of this godforsaken jungle.

You pry off the useless fabric from your sticky, sweaty skin and toss it into your bag to dispose of later. You would be self-conscious of being half naked in front of everyone, if not for the fact that you were hiding behind Gamzee, who had his back turn towards you. He not only blocked you from everyone’s sight, he also provided some very nice shade for you.

It was as hot as balls outside and humid, because of this you decided to make a pair of pants that only went to your knees and kept loose around your thighs. Out of fear of something crawling up your pant legs you made the hem tight and the waist band adjustable with two button holes…

Shit. Where were you going to get buttons? You guess you could make some, but with what?

You look around a bit until you see some pretty decent wood. Gamzee lent you his knife after he gave you the fabric, so you used that to carve some buttons for your pants.

 

The final product of your labor is a decent enough pair of pants that sort of make your butt look big.

Okay, you can’t actually see your butt, but it does feel roomy back there.

 

Be someone who can see Karkat’s butt.

You are now Gamzee and little does Karkat know is that you were sneaking peeks at him while he was working. And yeah, he has a fine ass in your opinion.

Of course the pants he just made covers up that fact.

You could always get a feel on if you’re careful enough. You shake your head of those thoughts before anyone can notice you staring. It’s probably obvious to everyone else that you have feelings for Karkat. But you rather take things slowly.

It’s another two hours ‘til the next break, so you make sure to keep the sun off of Karkat. You remember how quickly his skin turned red one day because he forgot something called “sunblock”. You guess the sun doesn’t like him too much. Most certainly likes to dry out wet motherfuckers pretty quickly.

Luckily, after the second break, it only takes an hour to get to the beach.

When you first see the glittering Ocean you stop and stare in awe. It’s just so full of miracles.

You’ve never seen the ocean before. You glance at Karkat to see his reaction. He seems relieved that the journey is over and sits down in the shade.

Maybe he’s seen the ocean before. Would that make him older than you?

Shit, you never got your thinking on that. He might not be interested in someone who just became an adult in the past year.

But he doesn’t look that much older than you.

The rest of the day is spent setting up camp and making a proper meal.

You notice Karkat arguing with Eridan for a few minutes before coming over to you. His face is turning a fierce shade of red and you worry that the sun might have burnt him again. He plops down onto the ground beside you. He nudges your side to get your attention. You feel your face heat up and can’t but to smile a little. You finally notice that he has something in his hands.

Sweet berries. The really good kind.

The kind that’s hard to find and always taste good.

It takes you a minute to realize that he wants to share with you. You feel your heart flutter and jump into your throat.

He likes you. He really likes you.


	10. Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The part where they actually fish.

Be the guy who’s the expert.

You are now Eridan and you don’t know what Karkat is doing. You tried to tell him that sharing food with adults in the Tribe is considered flirting. He just brushed you off saying “I know what the fuck I’m doing.”

As much as you love having that extra bonus for your research, if would be better if they were just friends. Karkat is running a lot of risks if he’s trying to date Gamzee.

A hand claps itself against your back and you snap out of your thoughts.

Oh, it’s Feferi.

“Hey Eridan, why don’t you join us and let Karkat do his thing.” her grip on your shoulder is slightly distracting. It’s not painful, so she’s not mad. Maybe she’s nervous.

What on earth would Feferi be nervous about?

“So Sollux and I have been talking, and we’ve been thinking about how some of us may like more than one person at a time.” She started off slowly trying to be serious.

You stop her and state “It would be for the best if we avoided acting unprofessional during this expedition; however afterwards we could discuss this like rational adults.”

As much as it pains you to say this, it’s more important to get the job done than to get your rocks off. The University only gave you so much funding.

“So, no fucking on the job?” Sollux asked. 

You really want to hit him sometimes.

Be the guy who’s not the expert.

You are now Karkat and it took you a fucking minute to realize how stupid you are.

Why the fuck did you ignore the one guy who understands foreign culture’s better than you understand why people like to piss you the fuck off.

You just wanted to share some food with the guy who gave you the materials for making pants.

It’s not the accidental flirting you’re upset with, it’s the sudden realization that you can’t take your contacts off around him that bothers you. You already had a close encounter with that predicament and now you just made it harder for yourself.

You are such a god damn idiot.

And now he’s leaning against you, fuck.

You don’t actually hate the guy, but you’re pretty sure you gave him the wrong impression. You’ve only known him for a few weeks and can barely communicate in his language. You don’t know that much about him, and he doesn’t know a lot about you.

And what about that fact that you’re both guys…

It just occurred to you that this tribe has nothing against homosexuality, at least that’s what you have gathered so far. The things you are currently doing with Gamzee are considered flirting, right?

And no one is objecting to the both of you getting together.

You could stay here and be yourself without anyone judging you, except for the albino part. You don’t know how to get away with that.

What the fuck are you thinking like you would be able to stay in the first place!

It’s not that you have things to do back in the mainland, but would you even be allowed to stay if you wanted to?

You lean back against Gamzee figuring you may as well enjoy his company.

Be the really happy goof.

You are now Gamzee and you are so giddy right now. It’s tempting to just cuddle with Karkat right there and now but you’re in front of everyone so you’ll wait. You didn’t think it would be easy getting him to like you. He seemed like the hard to get type.

You like him a lot, even though it kind of confuses you a little. When most people return affections they usually run off to make out with each other… maybe they don’t do that where Karkat is from.

Speaking of which, won’t the others go back and take him with them when they were done.

You know his group isn’t going to stick around forever, but would he stay behind?

After everyone finished setting up camp and eating lunch, the tribe started collecting things they could use for fishing. Karkat went back to his group to help set up their equipment. You’re not entirely sure what the large box is for, something to do pictures. You never understood it.

You decide to team up with your dad and collect vines to make a huge net. You guys are going after some really big motherfuckers, you wonder if they eat fish where Karkat is from.

You don’t dwell on it for long because soon enough you’re wading into the water with your dad on the out skirts of where the water trees grows. It’s pretty cool how they get their grow on without much solid ground. You reach the end of the rocks to where it should be deeper and, damn.

It looks almost bottom less from where you’re standing, the shallow end just suddenly drops into what looks like an underwater pit that extends forever. You don’t get a chance to look for long. Your dad throws to a double bonded vine to tie around your waist.

You don’t know how to swim, a lot of people in your tribe can’t swim. Your brother knows how to swim, said he learned from watching water dogs in the northern river. You make sure to double knot the vine, before planting your feet as close to the edge as you dare.

Your dad throws some bait into the net. You grab your end and he grabs his end. Together you both cast the net out as far as you can and wait.

It takes well over two hours before you see a shadow of something big.

The next thing you know it crashes into the net you get yank forward. You lose your footing but the vine holds tight. You make sure you have a secure grip on the net before attempting to pull yourself up.

Just when you think you have your footing again, you get pulled down again and this time the vines snaps.

Be the panicky boyfriend.

You are now Karkat and shit he’s going to get eaten, what were they thinking going after something bigger than themselves. You dash out into the water and grab the loose vine. Fuck that burns! Part of the rope slips in your hands and burns. You’re quick to wrap it around your arm and slowly make your way to the nearest tree.

You’re able to get the rope around the tree but you can’t untangle yourself from the vine. So you just keep on pulling until you see Gamzee’s head pop out of the water. He still has his grip on the net. Fucking idiot.

Eventually Gamzee is able to pull himself back into the shallow rocks. His dad makes a motion with his free arm and suddenly Gamzee and his dad toss the fish into the shallow end. Holy fuck is that thing huge. It’s three times bigger than the chief himself and looks like some kind of shark. A couple of other tribe members come running to help take care of the giant thrashing monster of a fish.

Don’t realize you’re crying until someone wraps their arms around you. You look up to see Gamzee with most of his face paint gone and his horns missing. Damn fish must have knocked them off.

He carefully untangles your hands from the vine and pulls you in for a hug. You can’t help throwing your arms around him and choking out a sob. God damn it why you always get so emotional about everything. He rubs your back in a soothing manner and quietly shooshes you.

It takes a while for you to calm down and stop crying. Your arms burn and the salt water isn’t helping. Your clothes are uncomfortably wet. You don’t want to move from your current position.

It’s Gamzee who moves away first grabbing your hand and leading you back to shore. You get some looks from one or two tribe members, but everyone else minds their own business. He keeps going leading you farther inland. Not too far from the beach is a cliff side, you notice Gamzee rubbing some paint on a few branches so the both of you can find your way back.

Once at the cliff side you immediately notice how much more shade there is. Oh the sun is setting you doofus. You lean against the wall and suddenly feel very tired but you can’t just fall asleep here. You close your eyes and sigh.

You don’t see him come into your personal space. You don’t open your eyes until you feel two hands cupping your face. You look at him curiously and start to feel butterflies in you stomach. He leans down and kisses you.

Be the Chief.

You are now the grand high blood and you are somewhat disappointed. In who or what you’re not sure, today didn’t go very well. Your youngest son’s first fishing trip and he almost gets killed. Of all the people to get saved by, it had to be an outsider. That pisses you off.

You know there was nothing you could do, and he was closer than anybody else. You don’t want to be ungrateful but at the same time you don’t want to owe an outsider any favors. Technically it’s your son who owes him as he is an adult already. But that boy is an outsider and can’t have any blasphemous motherfuckers making your son commit sacrilege. 

You take your frustration out on the mostly dead shark. One hit actually splatters blood everywhere. The poor motherfuckers trying to cut up the shark got soaked in blood. you couldn’t help laughing your ass off.


	11. Story Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moving along.

Your name is Sollux Captor and you are so pissed off right now.  
You left Karkat in charge of the smaller camera and he dropped it, he fucking dropped it.  
In the water.  
He was trying to save his friend, and you water proof all the cameras, but fuck. The screen was cracked. Its pocket sized couldn’t he just shove it in his pockets. Did he even have pockets on those pants?  
Hopefully you can recover any footage from it. Damn thing didn’t have that much memory space anyway.  
Eridan and Feferi see you grumbling over the broken camera and decide to approach you. You don’t say anything to them as you carefully take the camera apart.  
“You know Feferi has some rice you can …” Eridan starts. You cut him off. “I’m fine I just need to save the memory chip.”  
It looks like the memory chip isn’t broken but you would need to test it first.  
“If it’ll make you feel better I’ll buy you a new camera when we return to the mainland.” he responded.  
“Seriously?”  
“Yes, seriously.”  
You put the camera down and actually give Eridan a hug. Feferi starts clapping her hands and bouncing.  
“Aww that is so adora-bubble!”  
Then you and Eridan pull Feferi into a group hug. It was nice until Eridan gave you a wet willy.

Be the guy who broke the camera.  
You are now Karkat and you are having trouble breathing.  
Especially with someone else’s tongue in your mouth.  
You feel Gamzee run his fingers through your hair. You let out a soft moan that gets muffled in the kiss. Finally the two of you break for air. Gamzee goes straight for your neck while you are still trying to catch your breath. Your head is spinning and you don’t know if you want to stop or keep going.  
You would be glad to get rid of wet uncomfortable shirt right now.

Be the guy about to do something stupid.  
You are now Gamzee and something feels off with Karkat’s hair. You moved to marking up his neck to get a better look. You run your fingers up the back of his hair and notice that the color is dripping from it.  
Karkat lets out a sharp gasp you bite down a little too hard on his neck. With the way things are going you might be able to double check his hair color.  
It takes a moment to pull off his shirt and you go back to kissing his neck. You massage his hips before moving your hands up and down his sides.  
When you try to slip your hand into his pants, he hits your arm. You stop and pull back from him.  
Shit, you were going too fast. You really need to learn to pay closer attention to people.  
Karkat grabs his shirt and takes off running, his face flushed and gasping.  
You are one stupid motherfucker.  
Be freaked out.  
You are now Karkat and holy crap that was fucking close.  
That almost went too far, you kind of want to hit past Karkat in the face for being an ignoramus. You swear your brain was vomiting stupid everywhere in your skull and it’ll probably take a week for the one intelligent brain cell to clean up.  
You quickly put your shirt back on when you hear footsteps approach. You are going to have to either break off this thing with Gamzee or find a way to make the carpet match the drapes.  
You turn around and see Gamzee stop a couple meters away from you. He looks down at his feet and shuffles a bit, before looking back at you and saying “Karkat”.  
You let him know he has your attention and he begins signing.  
It was an apology. a very long apology.  
You weren’t sure how to interrupt him, so you just waited until he stopped before pulling him into a hug.  
He returned the hug and nuzzled his face into your neck. You kissed him on the forehead, hoping that it conveys that you forgive him and that you still like him.  
The sun had already begun its descent when the both of you headed back to the beach together. By the time you arrived it was already night and everyone was gathered around a large bonfire.  
Gamzee’s dad is the first to see the two of you and waves at the both of you to come over. Gamzee grabs your hand bouncing with excitement and leads you over to the bonfire. As soon as he sits down he pulls you into his lap.  
Be the guy who gets to bond with his dad.  
You are now Gamzee and you are so excited. You finally get to hang out with your dad. He’s usually busy with Chief duties, but you guys are on a fishing trip and no one has to work for a while.  
You’re sure he won’t mind having Karkat around, seeing as you kind of dragged him with you.  
Everyone is telling stories, some you know to be true and some that are made up. Karkat is having trouble keeping the motherfuck up, what with everyone moving so quickly. You just simplify the stories for Karkat to understand and end up teaching him a few more words.  
Eventually Karkat gets tired and goes to bed. You kind of want to follow him, but you’re pretty sure you should give him some space. At least it’s your dad’s turn to tell stories.  
Be the story teller.  
You are now the chief and you’re going to share the story about the fire spirit you met when you were younger.  
Across the river there used to be another village of your kind. Every now and again the two villages would trade.  
One day a child appeared in the village. He was as white as clouds and had blood red eyes. Nobody knew his name or where he came from, but everyone knew what he was.  
Very rarely are people visited by spirits, sometimes its good, most times its bad.  
Everyone believed he was a good spirit, since he made friends with everyone including you. He was able to make fire in different colors. You loved it, as did many others. They were beautiful and sometimes he threw the fire in the sky to only spark for a moment then fade away.  
It was fun while it lasted.  
Until one day your father gave you some supplies to trade with the other village. You did as you were told. You went to the village, made the trade, and headed back home. You visited the spirit before you went back, promising to return to play.  
After you crossed the river you saw the village go up in flames. You ran back to your own village to tell your father what had happened. He and a few others quickly left to see if they could save anyone.  
There were very few who survived.  
The next day you saw the spirit boy, standing in the middle of the burnt down village, laughing. Overcome with rage you attacked him. You ended up dragging him to the river and held him under until he moved no more. Then you brought his body back to your village where it was chopped up and burned. The survivors wore his blood for three days.  
To this day you firmly believe that no one should trust a spirit, just free them from their bodies and be done with them.

You noticed your son staring at you wide eyed and mouth agape. You’re glad he got to know this story, it’ll help him make smarter decisions in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please Comment and let me know how i'm doing with this story.


	12. Swimming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tribe may be unable to swim that doesn't stop the outsiders.

The next morning everyone started setting up fishing equipment before breakfast. Most of the day was spent fishing and eating fish. After a few interviews Eridan was able to tell everyone that regular fishing trips not only helped preserve supplies back at home during the intense rainy season, but it also helped members of tribe bond together.

  
While the tribe was doing their fishing thing, the outsiders took this chance to record the different techniques the tribe used for fishing.  
The number of people it took to catch a fish depended on the type of fish. Usually it only takes two or three people to make and use a net in the more shallow side of the beach where fish got trapped in little pools when the tide went out.

  
If you were spearing for fish, you can do it by yourself for the most part. All you needed was a sharp stick or arrow head attached to a stick and a rope to tie to the end of the spear to pull it back in. Unless you were trying to catch something bigger, then you would have someone as a land anchor hold onto the rope so you don’t get pulled into the sea.

  
Then there was what the tribe called old fishing. Generally a simple way to catch small fish that the elderly tend to stick to so they don’t exert themselves too much. They would have a small net at the end of stick and scoop little fish out of ponds and into wooden bowls.

  
After these observations Eridan felt the need to ask why the Grand High Blood would try to catch such a large fish with just Gamzee as help. Of course he didn’t ask him directly, one of the elders was happy to explain that the chief wanted to show off his strength and inspire his son.  
But damn did that fail spectacularly.

  
Luckily Karkat wasn’t around when the chief was telling his story about a young albino. You kind of felt bad for the kid in the story, although if he really did set a village on fire on purpose you suppose that he deserved a harsh punishment for the deaths of so many people. You just hope Karkat isn’t around when something bad happens.

Be enthusiastic as usual.

You are now Feferi and and buoy do you love the sea, and fish. You decided to dive right in when no one was looking. You were able to catch a pretty fish with your bare hands.  
You surfaced pretty quickly and startled someone trying to spear. The laughter that bubbled out of you was pretty loud and attracted the attention of Mister killjoy. You throw the fish you caught at Eridan and dive under the waves.

You know Eridan doesn’t like to get wet, but you just love being underwater and seeing all the cool creatures who live there. the second time you surface you’re pretty far from shore. you see Eridan waving frantically at you.  
You feel something rub against your leg and see a fin move past you.

You just aboat shit yourself before realizing that it was a dolphin. You giggle at yourself and start swimming after the dolphin.  
Once you catch up with it you grab its dorsal fin and let it carry you back to shore. you climb back on to the shore and come face to face with Eridan glaring at you.

“Hey” you grin awkwardly.

“Fef, that was dangerous!” he shouted clenching his fists.

“It was a dolphin.” you giggled.

“What if it wasn’t!” Eridan was about to throw a tantrum when Sollux came up behind him.

“Dude chill, Feferi is practically the queen of the sea, she can take on any fish she sees.”

You give Eridan a hug before apologizing. ‘I’m reely sorry that I scared you, but we’re not kids anymore and two of us know C.P.R.”

Eridan starts to deflate and whine. “But Fef…”

“Hang on” Sollux starts “Who else knows C.P.R. other than you?”

“Karkat does, he learned how around the same he learned how to swim.” You share, glad to change the subject. You do not have the energy to deal with a grumpy Eridan. It's always as hassle to calm down from one of his tantrums. Luckily he’s mature enough now not to have them everyday.

“Hey where is karkat anyway?”

Be someone looking for a cutie patootie.

You are now Gamzee and you did not find Karkat in his tent this morning. you didn’t see him at breakfast either. You don’t get a chance to look for him in the morning, your dad needed your help setting up some lures.

You hear a commotion on the other side of the beach. You see the female outsider, Feferi that was her name, out in the ocean.  
What is that crazy motherfucker doing?

You do not know how to swim, but it appears the outsiders got their knowing on the motion of the ocean. That is some sight to see someone move through water like a fish. You wonder briefly if the outsiders would be willing to teach you how to swim. Maybe Karkat can teach you if he knows how to swim. What if he’s out there swimming already.  
With that thought you finish helping your dad, before taking off to see if you can find Karkat from the shore.

Be the guy who decided to disappear this morning.

You are now Karkat and you found the perfect spot for swimming. It’s a nice little tide pool hidden away under some trees. There’s plenty of shade so you don’t have to worry about getting sunburnt and it’s only waist deep.

You awoke this morning with a stiff one and being the decent person you were, You left to find a secluded spot to care of it. You shivered when you fantasized Gamzee holding you tightly and caressing you gently.

You float on your back with your eyes closed, listening to the gentle breeze. You weren’t sure if you should swim with your contacts on or not, but you figured it’s better to be safe than sorry. You make sure to listen carefully for any sounds of movement, you really don’t want to be caught naked out here. Especially since you don’t dye your pubic hair. That area is too sensitive for the chemicals in the hair dye. You just hope the shade and water is enough to help hide it. if not you could kick up the sand and swim away.

You feel something brush up against your back, and flail pathetically to get away. You flip over and try to stand up, only to lose your footing and fall.  
Eventually you get your bearings and right yourself to see that it was a cuttlefish, Feferi’s favorite, that had snuck up on you. Sweet taint chafing fuck, you flipped your shit over a little cuttlefish.

You attempt to glare at the little shit but all you can really see is your reflection and your red eyes glaring right back at you. Shit, you rub at your eyes and hope you’re just seeing things. Nope, your fucking contacts fell out.

Okay don’t panic you just need to get your pants on and sneak back to camp. You can hide in Eridan’s tent until he gives you your spare contacts. No doubt he’ll send you home just to be safe.

That last thought makes you want to hit something. The weather may be a bit too sunny your tastes, but you kind of like the people here. Especially Gamzee.

You don’t get the chance to think over your options when you hear a rustling in the bushes behind you and a voice that you only hear to call your name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably won't be able to update for a while, since i'm moving to Kalamazoo and transferring to WMU. thank you for reading, please leave a review it would be much appreciated.


	13. When it rains..

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't wander off into the jungle alone, and don't get caught without any pants on.

Be a little confused.

You are Gamzee and you just saw Karkat swim away. You’re pretty sure it’s him because his pants are right there.

The question now is why did he swim away when you called out his name?

You look at his discarded clothing and realize that it’s probably because he’s naked. Outsiders don’t like being seen naked if you remember correctly.

You never quite understood that since everyone is born naked, and usually don’t wear that much clothing to begin with. You’ll have to ask Karkat about that.

Speaking of whom, he has swam to the other side of the tide pool and kicked up a lot of sand in the process. You guess you should get in there and follow him. What’s the worst that can happen?

You hop into the tide pool a little surprised at how deep it is. At least it goes up to your waist.

You try walking towards him and damn isn’t crazy how the water slows you down. Maybe you should try swimming like Karkat was doing.

Let’s see he kicked with his legs while doing a thing with his arms. You’re not sure how to both at the same time, you just stick with mimicking his arm movements.

Well, at least you’re moving faster now.

When you look up to see Karkat trying leave the tide pool and go into the ocean. You catch up to him and try to pull him back only to get pulled forward.

You’re not sure if Karkat did that on purpose or not, but now your head is underwater and you can’t get back up. You try to thrash your way back up, but you make the mistake of opening your mouth. You just couldn’t hold your breath in.

Your lungs fill up with water and you can’t breathe. You want to be back on land where it’s warm and dry. You feel yourself get colder and everything suddenly goes dark.

 

Be scared.

Your name is Karkat Vantas and you are trying not to panic. You just didn’t want Gamzee to see that you were albino, and now he might die.

You quickly try to grab him but his thrashing kept you from getting a hold of him. It was when he started to slow down you were able to get a grip around his torso.

You tried to get him to shore as quickly as possible, but it felt like hours before you got him onto dry land, even though it was probably two minutes.

Okay CPR, first you check for a heartbeat. You put your hand to his pulse point and laid your head against his chest. You count to yourself while listening carefully for a pulse.

 You quickly start chest compressions. You push all your weight down the center of his chest and count to thirty. Then you tilt his head back, lift his chin and start screaming on the inside.

God damn it be embarrassed later. You pinch his nose, take a death breath, and start giving him mouth to mouth.

Going back and forth from chest compressions to mouth-to-mouth, Gamzee eventually starts coughing up water.

He rolls over to his side to expel the water from his lungs. You pat his back in an attempt to help.

His coughing slowly dies down and he lies down staring straight up.

He looks at you and has a sudden look of surprise on his face and the next thing you know he’s pinning you to the ground.

Fucking hell, you forgot about your missing contacts.

Heat rushes to your face as you realized that you were naked as well. Talk about embarrassing.

 

Be Gamzee.

You are now Gamzee and you are feeling a lot of things right now. Very conflicting things.

You should be angry, Karkat was lying about himself this whole time. However, given the nature of your tribe and the story from last night, Karkat had every reason to hide who he was. How is hair black? You briefly glance down to see if the ‘rug’ matched the ‘drapes’.

Okay, this is embarrassing. Not only is he naked, but his way of hiding himself is gone. And he did get you out of the water. But really just seeing him like that, makes your pan scrambled.

You hear a hiccupping noise and look down at Karkat’s face. Aw, shit he’s crying.

You get off of him and awkwardly try to comfort him.

You sit cross legged and pull him into your lap. He curls up on himself and shivers. You decide to hug him and rub his back. His crying slows down to soft little hiccups and gasps.

Well, at least it isn’t raining yet.

A sudden flash of light followed by the boom of thunder brings the rain pouring down on you.

Okay, you are going to have to find shelter first before deciding how you feel about Karkat’s… everything. You also have to get him something to wear or at least find his pants. You look around to see where you were, the little tide pool Karkat was in should be over there.

You can’t seem to see anything familiar at all. Damn the current must have moved you guys further down the coast. You get up and pull Karkat to his feet. He seems pretty dazed right now, so you just lead him towards the forest where the both of you should hopefully find shelter.

Be dazed as hell.

You are now Karkat and you are very lost and very confused. You thought Gamzee was going to kill you. You guess he changed his mind. You feel tired and cold. You want your pants back or at least something to cover yourself up with.

Eventually Gamzee finds a cave that’s empty for the most part. You sit down in a corner and curl up, trying to make yourself smaller. You really don't want to be seen right now.

You listen to the sound of rain and Gamzee shuffling around and moving stuff. You don't know what he's doing, but it sounds like he's playing with leafs. You don't know what he's going to do to you. You hope he doesn't hurt you.

Just as you're about to start crying again, you feel a nudge to your shoulder. You look and see Gamzee’s hand holding what looks like a skirt made of some comically large leafs. You slowly take it from him looking up at his face. The rain washed all his paint off. He's trying to avoid making eye contact with you. Getting up carefully you murmur a quiet thanks, forgetting for moment that he doesn't know your language. You quickly put the leaf skirt on, feeling a little annoyed that it's like the cliché crap you read in books like Tarzan.

Well at least you're not naked anymore.

Be the guy feeling kind of guilty.

You are now Gamzee, and boy did you mess things up. After thinking about it some more and getting some realizations on, you figured Karkat ain’t any kind of malicious spirit. Heck, you don’t think Karkat has one wicked bone in his body, no matter how venom he seems to spew. You may not understand his language but you sure can see the emotions in his face and hear how his voice tries to hide it.

You’re sure he ain’t here to cause mischief, and he wouldn’t be hiding himself if he was trying to get his escape on from his flesh prison, it leaves one thought in your pan. And it’s a thought so blasphemous and mirthful it makes your stomach do all kinds of fluttering. You don’t know if you can handle it.

Aw, man… your dad is going to be so pissed.


	14. I don't know what I'm doing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone panic and enjoy the rain.

Be the panicky guy.  
You are now Eridan and you can't find Karkat anywhere. It started raining, and apparently that's the signal to head back to the village. Feferi and Sollux are calm about the whole situation, saying that Karkat is probably with Gamzee and they'll be back before the end of the day.  
You’ve asked everyone twice if they’ve seen Karkat, and got the same response from all of them. You try to go searching for Karkat, only to be stopped by your colleagues. “Eridan shouldn’t you be packing your stuff first?” Feferi asks. “Yeah, once we're done packing we can get Karkat’s stuff together and go search for him.” Sollux insists.   
You take a deep breath, and reply “I’m going to double check the area first.” You run off before they could stop you. You needed to burn off the nervous energy.

Be the much calmer dude.  
You are now the Grand highblood and where the fuck did your son run off to. Everyone is supposed to head back to the village tomorrow. That boy won't have anything packed in time.  
You see one of the outsiders freaking out and running about. The other two tried and failed to calm him down. You ask around, and learn that their youngest has gone missing. Probably ran off with Gamzee. They couldn’t have worse timing. You can only delay the return for a day or two, eventually everyone will want to go back instead of getting soaked in the rain.  
If you can’t find them by then, you’ll have to put together a search party back at the village. Tracking someone in the rain isn’t easy, but not impossible. As long as the two boys stick together they should be fine.

Be the water sign.  
You are now Feferi and you don't know how to calm Eridan down. You understand why he would worry, but Gamzee probably found Karkat, wherever he went, and they're pro-bubbly hanging out and getting to know each other more.  
The thought that Gamzee might of found out about Karkat’s albinism crosses your mind. You think that Gamzee wouldn't mind and maybe even accept that part of him. The romantic side of you remembers what Eridan said about the myths surrounding albinos, and hope that Gamzee will believe that Karkat loves him. Boat that’s just fishful thinking.  
Hopefully things work out in the end.  
How great would it be for Karkat if he could live here. Sure getting romance novels wouldn’t be easy, but everyone would accept him for who was, well maybe not completely.  
Realistically you know that everyfin is more likely to fall to pieces but you like to daydream about highly unlikely scenarios.  
If only there was a way to get around that stigma against albinos. That’s the only thing in the way of Karkat staying here. Maybe if Karkat is lucky, Gamzee will still like him if he ever found out that Karkat was albino. Then it would be up to Gamzee to defend Karkat against the tribe and more importantly his dad’s bias.

Sollux shakes your shoulder, “Hey Fef, you still in there!” “Sorry a-bout that, I was just thinking of some fins.” you giggle.

Be the master of anxiety.  
You are now Sollux and you can tell that everything is going to shit. You almost wish you never came here. Almost.   
Apparently both KK and GZ have ran off somewhere, if they're not back soon they’ll get left behind. You get an idea that will hopefully calm Eridan down and guarantee that the boys will find their way back to the village.  
“Hey Eridan I got an idea!” You try to get his attention. He stops where he is and looks at you skeptically.   
“Well what is it?”  
You pull out some red and blue electrical tape and reply “We can leave a trail for them to follow.”  
He looks hopeful and before you know it he pulls you into a hug.

Be the guy who lost his pants.  
You are now Karkat and you went to having a nice swim to losing your pants to wearing a skirt made of leafs. Gamzee is sort of avoiding you, he won’t make eye contact and he keeps covering his face.  
Is he embarrassed?  
The fuck does he have to be embarrassed about!?  
If anything, you should be embarrassed from being caught naked.  
…  
You take a couple of deep breaths to try and calm yourself, getting angry will not solve anything. Communicating with Gamzee, however, will hopefully lead to coming up with a plan. You can’t stay here forever.  
You are going to get Gamzee to communicate you with like an adult and you are going to start teaching him how to speak english, because sign language doesn’t work if he not looking at you.  
Lucky for you they actually speak names aloud for some reason.  
You stand and walk over to stand in front of Gamzee. When he doesn’t respond you try to get his attention.  
“Gamzee.” You say firmly.  
He looks up at you. His face is a little flushed and he looks shy for once.  
You sit down in front of him and begin to sign. “How are we going to get back to the camp?”

Be anxious for the first time ever.  
You are now Gamzee and it feels like your life is one big practical joke on you.  
First you find out Karkat is some kind of physical spirit that may or may not be in love with you, thinking about it makes your head fuzzy.  
Second you get lost in the jungle after almost drowning, which Karkat was able to revive you from. You blush and bury your face in your hands. Thinking back on that you recall his mouth against yours.   
Shit, you kissed him before this shouldn’t make your blood pusher flutter so much.  
Last of all, there's your dad. You know he’s gonna be biased. How can he not when some malicious spirit burnt a whole village down. You don’t know how well he’ll take to a motherfucking spirit trying to court his son.  
“Gamzee”  
You hear Karkat right in front of you and look up. He looks concerned and he’s biting his lower lip. He sits right down in front you and asks how to get back to camp.  
Well, fuck. You forgot all about that.  
You sign right back “We could try to follow the coast back up to where we were.”  
“We’ll get wet.” He signs back.  
“Not if we make water repellent coverings.” You reply.  
“I don’t know how.” He responds.  
“I’ll show you”  
You take him by the hand and show him where you found the leafs for his skirt. The both of you set to work to make some coverings. You finish first having done this several times before, but Karkat can’t keep his covering from falling apart.  
You’re careful to take his hands slowly and show him step by step how to keep the leafs together. Eventually he gets the hang of it.  
It’s too bad that you don’t have any fur to put underneath the leafs. Looks like you’ll just go cold.  
By the time the two of you finish it’s nightfall. You find some leafs that weren’t too wet and start making a pile. You make there’s plenty of room for the both of you to sleep without bumping into one another.  
You get settled in on your side and watch Karkat get comfortable on his side.  
At first you both lay back to back. Keeping your distance from one another.  
Until you hear some shuffling and feel Karkat curl into your back. You hear him shiver, poor little motherfucker must be cold.   
You roll over and pull him into a hug. He tenses then slowly relaxes in your arms. You watch as his eyes slowly droop close. Once you think he’s asleep, you give him a quick peck on the lips.  
You didn’t think that would wake him up. His eyes open in surprise and you just grin at him. He scowls a little, before leaning in and pressing his lips to yours. He licks your lower lip, before pulling it into his mouth to suck on.   
When he lets go, you dive right back in. Giving him sloppy kisses, while slowly pulling him to lay on top of you. After a few minutes you pull away to kiss under his jaw and make your way down his neck. You nip him just above the collarbone and he gasps. You pull back to look at him. You thought you should stop, but then you see his face is flushed and panting.   
So you carry on, with the sound of rain in the background and the small whimpers he makes.


	15. Getting up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you are under the age of 18, you shouldn't be reading this fic in the first place especially this chapter.

The next day the chief of the tribe decided that everyone should head home without Gamzee and Karkat. If they didn't return home two weeks after they arrived they would send out search parties. Eridan, and Sollux went about leaving a trail of red and blue electrical tape for Karkat and Gamzee, while Feferi made sure that no one from the tribe noticed. 

Along the way the tribe made themselves what they called water repellent coverings. Basically they’re raincoats made of leaves with fur lining the inside. The forest has a large variety of plants with extremely large leaves. Although you did have to be careful of some of the poisonous plants.

Be the guy who was not careful of some poisonous plants.

You are regretting everything now, Sollux is off to the side laughing his ass off and Feferi is trying to treat your rash. You have the worst itching and burning sensation everywhere. You should've just followed Feferi’s lead and collect leaves from the same plant like everyone else. But no, you wanted to impress your team and now you have a horrible rash that is starting to show little bumps.

According to Feferi she’s not going to be able to cure it until all of us get back to camp, so far all she can do is give you some aloe to stop the itching. The burning won’t go away and that's not even the worst part. It hurts to touch things, even the gentlest breeze feels like someone rubbing a cheese grater against your skin.

Everyone felt so bad for you that they helped find thick broad leaves to help protect you from the elements. You’re not sure how you should feel about that. You definitely don’t like the snickering you hear behind your back, but you are grateful to have something to keep the wind from hitting your skin.

A couple hours into the journey, you notice that the tribes face paint was starting to run off. Most of them being embarrassed by this, covered their faces with leaves. Other rubbed oil and mud into their face.

It made you feel a little better about your situation.

Be kind of embarrassed.

You are now Karkat Vantas and you can’t stop thinking about last night. About what you did. You’re mostly surprised at how gentle Gamzee was with you.

Last night you got cold so you tried to cuddle with Gamzee and ended up getting so much more. It escalated from soft pecks to full on making out and being held against him. You were practically sitting on top of him. Then suddenly you were underneath him. He gently massaged your thighs while looking at you like he was waiting for an answer. You spread your legs and encouraged one of his hands to go up your leg. He rubbed your inner thigh with one hand while he stroked your cock with the other. Wanting to return the favor, you slid your hand into his pants.

If you weren't so turned on at that moment, you would've flipped your shit. He practically had a third leg. What makes it even worse is that he decided to sleep in the nude after cumming in his pants. Feeling his dick in your hand is one thing but seeing it is another.

When you woke up this morning **,** he was laying on top of you and you felt his morning wood against your leg. You tried to push him off to no avail. He just held you closer and nuzzled the side of your face. The remnants of his face paint came off, and you got a good look at his face. 

He had a lopsided smile with a little bit of drool coming out of his mouth. You thought he looked pretty cute and kissed him on the forehead. Then you proceeded to kick him off of you. Eventually he rolled over with a groan. You would’ve felt bad, but you had to pee.

 

Be the happiest you've ever been.

You are now Gamzee and last night you had fun with Karkat. You kind of ruined his grass skirt, but so far he hasn't noticed. It gave you a pretty great view of his ass.

After foraging for breakfast you and Karkat started following the coastline towards where everyone should be. You were able to find Karkat’s pants as well. You're sad that you don’t get to look at the booty any longer, but at least Karkat is comfortable again.

Once you find the both of you back at the fishing site, you noticed that everyone already packed up and left. There are fish bones scattered everywhere and all the drying racks were taken down. Your stuff was left behind and it look like Karkat was left a few supplies but not the bulk of his possessions. His group spoils him too much. Before you can too worked up with jealousy over it, Karkat offers to help carry your stuff.

Your heart is so sweet sometimes. You watch him as something grabs his attention. He walks up to some dark foliage and grabs at one of the branches. He looks at the next plant and starts waving you over.

You come up next to him as he points at the misplaced red and blue amongst the leaves. Looks like his family left him a trail. You can't help but think that's cheating but at the same time it's harder to find the path home in the rain. Especially if you're trying to find it alone.

You can’t believe you got left behind on your first trip. You know your dad is harsh on you to be independent, especially since he doesn’t want people thinking he’s like to go easy on you. But, would it kill a motherfucker to get his chill on for five minutes.

 

Be eternally grateful.

You are now Karkat and you are so glad Sollux brings unnecessary stuff that turns out to be useful later. You would hate to be lost in these in jungles for too long. Especially since there are some crazy wildlife out here. You owe him one.


	16. Got tiger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Watch out for that cat.

Be an asshole.

 

You are now Gamzee and you won't stop teasing Karkat about his hair. You won't stop annoying him when you tug on the ends of his hair to make some of the black stuff come off. He keeps swatting at your hands to get you to stop. But he's so cute when he's flustered.

Eventually he gets fed up, slaps your hands and starts yelling up a storm. Damn, the little motherfucker can yell louder than thunder. Normally you would be worried about being too loud in the jungle, but it's the rainy season. Everything is loud. The sky and it's crashing thunder, trees smacking into each other while the wind howls at them.

And then there's Karkat, booming just as loud as thunder and as furious as a panther. His face has gone redder than the setting sun.

You just cover your face and laugh.

A smart brother would keep his eyes open at all times. Especially if he can't hear the crunching of branches behind him. But Karkat is like the sun, brilliant in his radiance and will blind you for staring too long.

You don't get to savor Karkat's wrath when two sets of claws tear down your back followed by teeth piercing into your neck.

You try to throw the beast off of you but only manage to get your arm entrapped in its jaw. The jungles cat jerks it head, snapping your arm. You lose feeling and look to see it dangling loosely from the mouth of the jungle cat.

 

Be Karkat.

 

Holy shit Eridan was not exaggerating about the wildlife here. You freeze up and watch as the giant jingle cat snaps Gamzee's arm like a twig. Before your thoughts catch can up with you, you’re moving, grabbing Gamzee's knife from his belt and stabbing the monster in the eye. The giant cat drops Gamzee and jumps back. You stand ready to strike, watching the jungle cat for any sudden movement. The jungle cat pounces and you dodge rolling under its belly. You manage to cut it along its abdomen. You quickly turn around and before the wild animal can recover you jump onto it's back. You get the giant cat in a chokehold and slit it's throat before it can retaliate. The animal struggles and you fall off it's back. You scramble away as quickly as you could. The giant cat gives out a few swipes and growls before collapsing. After a few minutes you slowly approach the animal and check for any signs of life. As soon as you confirm the animal is dead, you rush to Gamzee who's lying on the ground whimpering in pain. It looks like Gamzee was able to stop the worst of the bleeding on his own. His arm is limp and bent at an unnatural angle. You are afraid to touch it, but you know you have to straighten it out so it can heal right. You try as carefully as you could to set the bone and bind Gamzee's arm with two branches to keep it straight. You tried to pick Gamzee up and succeed in keeping only his torso off the ground. You carry him to the nearest shelter you could find, which was a cave that looked like nothing lived in it for years. You set Gamzee down and start patching him up, mostly out of fear of him bleeding out. By the time you're done, he's fast asleep. You sit down next to him and carefully arrange his arms so you could sleep next to him without hurting him. You don't fall asleep right away, you watch Gamzee's breathing. It stayed steady for most of the night and you didn't pass out until the stress of the day caught up to you.

 

Be the guy with a broken arm.

 

You are now Gamzee and Karkat killed a jungle cat. Like damn, that was so badass and brave of him. You are now 100% confident that Karkat is the most competent adult you know. You should probably skin that cat when you get the chance. It would make a nice blanket when it dries. You kind of fell asleep while Karkat was patching up you up. Felt safe and warm under his care, even though you were soaked to the bone.

 

You wake up to a lot of pain and the cutest sleeping face to ever appear in front of your face. You don’t really know what to do. Some of your cuts still hurt, but you want to kiss Karkat. But your arm still hurts like hell. But Karkat looks so cute curled into your side. Hmmmm.

 

After a few moments of staring you lean forward and kiss Karkat on the forehead. His face crinkles in his sleep, and you find it so cute that you kiss him again. He makes another cute face, so you just start peppering his face with kisses until he wakes up. He grumbles as he wakes up, swatting at you to stop. You grin at him and try to pull him into a hug. Pain flares up in your neck and arm. You wince and grit your teeth, trying to will the ache away. Karkat looks at you with wide eyes full of worry and concern. He sits up ready to help but you just lay down and nudge his side. It takes him a moment to understand, but he does lay next to you to get his cuddle on.

 

Be the cuddly guy.

 

You are now Karkat and you feel really bad for Gamzee. You fixed him up the best you could do. He would need to see Feferi if he wants to get better. But for now the best thing you can give him is comfort.

After a while both you and Gamzee start to get hungry. Well, you did just kill a jungle cat. It won’t be the most nutritious thing to eat but at least it would be filling. You help Gamzee up into a sitting position and drag the giant cat to where he is. Together, the both of you skin it and cut it up. It takes a hell of a time building a fire, what with the rain and all, but you eventually get one going with a little teepee of sticks around it. Cooking the meat is even harder since the fire is pretty small and the opening in the teepee is even smaller. The meat is lean and tough and tastes plainer than dry chicken. But you’re both so hungry that you guys eat most of the meat in one sitting.

You start talking to him about random stuff. You’ve been trying to teach him some english, with varying results. He gets pretty tired from talking so much. In the end you just end up answering a bunch of his questions. Most of them pertaining to home and what your country was like.

It was hard to explains some aspects like the difference in technology and how there’s a lot more people because of farming. You also tried to explain what hair dye is, what it's usually used for,  and how it comes in different colours, but you’re not sure if he understood what it is. He just got the gist of that somehow your hair is naturally white and dye temporarily turns it black.

 

Be the guy about to have a slip in faith.

 

You are now Gamzee and you’re starting to think that Karkat isn’t really a spirit. Or at least he’s just some regular guy born to look like a spirit. You tried asking him about it, but he seemed to have trouble explaining it. All you know is that Karkat burns very easily in the sun, has red eyes and white hair, and he is most definitely not a spirit of this jungle. He might not even be any kind of spirit. Hell, spirits might just motherfucking don’t exist. Well shit, if spirits don’t exist, what else isn’t really real. You don’t want to believe that Karkat is lying to you, but you know your family wouldn’t lie to you about faith.

Karkat notices you panicking and asks what’s wrong. You try not to accuse him of heresy, but you don’t know any other way of sharing your doubts. Karkat doesn’t even get offended, bless his heart, he just tells you that he doesn’t know anything about this here jungle.

Of course he wouldn’t know he’s an outsider, he comes from a land that follows different laws. So he’s not a spirit, since he’s not from here. Plus the whole reason he’s here is to learn about the tribe and the jungle with his group.

Now the real problem is if he can convince everyone else that Karkat is just a regular guy. The beliefs in his tribe are so ingrained into everyday life that the only heretics you can find are outsiders. Maybe he doesn't have to convince everyone. Maybe he doesn't have to do anything at all.

There are spirits known to have an affinity for humans after all.

 

Be Karkat.

 

You are now Karkat, you just finished eating and are now in the process of setting up the jungle cat pelt in a way for it to dry. Gamzee's got this excited wiggle going on that he does when he has an idea. He tries to explain with english words like “Story tribe know” and “Safe you and me”. You switch sign language to understand him better. He tells you about how every once in awhile a spirit comes into human form for one of three reasons. Apparently if the tribe finds out your albino Gamzee will just tell them that you fell in love with him. It's technically true to some degree. But you don't know how you feel about all the associations that go with it. Does he expect you to stay here forever? Do you want to stay here? You ask Gamzee what would happen to you if it came to that. He said the tribe would expect the both of you to get handfasted but that's only if you get caught. As long as no one else in the tribe knows your albino you should be fine.

The both of you start planning on how to sneak you back to your camp without notice. Hopefully this all works out. If not you're stuck with Gamzee for the rest of your life. Although staying here with Gamzee sounds nicer than going home and running the risk of bumping into the abusive side of your family. Gamzee seems to be okay with the idea of getting handfasted but you feel like it would be way too soon for that kind of thing. Maybe after dating for at least six months. So far you've only known him for a few weeks.

For now you just want to get out this Jungle and back to camp.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if anyone still reads this fic, so I'm going to update on feedback basis. If people want me to update they have to let me know that they actually read this fic so i know if i should move onto other projects or not.


	17. Titles are meaningless and nothing is real

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> wink wink, nudge nudge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit man it's been almost a year since I last updated, sounds like a pretty terrible year. Anyways hope y'all enjoy if you're still reading this, I have drafts for the next two chapters and maybe i'll throw in a bonus who knows *shrugs*

You are now Sollux Captor and you just ran out of red and blue electric tape. It's really no big deal, since you and everyone else is half an hour away from the village. This should be a familiar enough place for Gamzee to recognize and find his way back. And Karkat is more than likely with Gamzee, since they've been joined by the hip since they met. 

 

Actually it was more like Gamzee just followed Karkat everywhere he went. Even when he needed privacy. The clown really needs to learn what personal space is. You get that close proximity is kind of normal around here, because of the whole they need to be quiet almost all the time and sign language thing. You’re actually kind of curious as to what kind of monster lurks in these jungles. Although now that you think about it, you’ve barely seen any sign of predators. The only instance was that half eaten boar that fell out of a tree.

That was actually pretty gross, you refused to look up for the rest of the journey.

You noticed Eridan’s slumped shoulders and depressing sighs. It was starting to get annoying. You know he has a habit of being dramatic but seriously Kk is going to be okay. You refrain from saying that because you know it won't make him stop. 

You look over to Feferi to see if she has any ideas on how to cheer up Eridan. It looks like she's examining  some plants. You should probably leave her alone.

 

Be the expert botanist slash general surgeon.

You are now Feferi and you are making flower crowns to surprise Eridan and Sollux. You know that Sollux is only gonna cheer up if Eridan cheers up and Eridan won't cheer up unless Karkat comes back. So for now you are going to try and cheer everyone up with shrimple herbology. Lucky for you one of the most common plants on this continent is also a commonly used drug back at home. Whale, the plants only work if eaten but you'll figure that out later. Of course the natives here don't use these plants because they're ineffective compared to sopor leafs. They probably built up an immunity to it. Once these flower crowns are done you're going to turn Mr. Grumpy into Mr. Happy.

 

Be Mr. Grumpy.

You are now Eridan and no you are not grumpy. You are worried out of your mind, Karkat could be dead for all you know! You feel worse than you did when you outed him to his family. God it’s like the universe wants your cousin dead or something.

Before you could go deeper into the pit of despair that is your life, Feferi comes up to you. Before you could say anything she quickly puts a flower crown on your head. You flail a little and sputter out “Fef, you don’t know the cultural significance of flowers in this tribe!”  

Feferi of course just smiles at you and replies “Whale I thought it would cheer you up! I even made one for Sollux ;)” You take a quick glance at Sollux who is also wearing a flower and making a peace sign at you. “Feferi, flower crowns are what they give to lovers! Not to mention the implications you brought upon from giving two guys flowers crowns, they're gonna think…” you trail off there ‘cause you’re not sure what they would think. You’ve seen some of the tribe members hang out in intimate groups a couple of times. But still, Feferi should of asked you if it was okay to make flower crowns in the first place!

“Bass-sides, I don’t see anyone complaining about what I’m doing except you.” Feferi interjects, shrugging her shoulders. Okay so maybe everyone here is okay with polyamorous relationships, but how on earth are you going to explain that to everyone back at home.

Before you could complain anymore Sollux interjects “So are were a threesome or what?” You sputter while Fef laughs. “Okay, but seriously guys” Sollux continues “how long are we gonna dance around this flaming bush?”

“What on earth are you talking about!” you reply, glaring at Sollux.

Sollux leans forward and whispers in your ear “You know what I'm talking about, you're either down for both of us or none of us and we both know a mutual friend who likes to get pork roasted.” Sollux pulls away with a smug look on his face. Your face is bright red and Feferi simply stares at you curious.

You cough and look towards Feferi “You know Sollux and I should probably give you a flower crown so it doesn't look weird to the natives.” you avert your eyes.

“Um... are there any flowers you like?” you ask shyly.

Feferi smiles and replies “anything yellow and purple.”

You and Sollux set out collecting flowers for Feferi, all the while your face getting redder at the implications. You have no idea how this relationship would work out back at home. 

But you suppose that something for future Eridan to worry about.

Be someone else.

You are now the chief, and you are impressed by Feferi’s boldness. Most people usually exchange flower crowns in private, but she just publicly claimed two men as her lovers. They clearly didn’t see this coming as they did not have a flower crown to give back to her. You see one of the men get really flustered. You couldn’t understand what he was rambling on about, but the other guy looked smug as hell about it. 

For the rest of the trip they kept making faces at each other and the woman kept picking herbs. If you got your remembering on right, those herbs used to be used as a pain medicine. It's not as strong as slime, but some folks are softer than others.

 

Be back at camp.

You are now Feferi and you are making brownies. You got some glubbin good plans in motion. Somehow you got Eridan and Sollux to get along with each other long enough for you to get….

Once you got the brownies set down in front of them, they look at you suspiciously. Kelp, time to come clean.

“They're pot brownies.” you give them an innocent smile.

“Where in the living fuck did you get weed?” sollux asked. “They are a native plant here.” you wave a hand in the air as if to dismiss his surprise.

“Fef of all the things to do around here why would want to get high?” eridan raises his pointy eyebrows.

“Because it's a great way to relax and I know you are very stressed out right now” you replied. Sollux and eridan share a look before shrugging and eating a brownie.

Later~

After getting sufficiently relax the trio got together in Eridan’s tent and started a game of strip poker. From there it escalated into a game to see who is the best kisser, to having Feferi sucking Eridan’s dick while Sollux takes Feferi from behind.


End file.
